We’re not about numbers — We focus on getting a very small number of highly
capable young Afghans into the very best universities — not just in America,
but world-wide.

Last year SOLA helped 15 students*, 13 of them girls,
find scholarships at institutions such as Cornell, Middlebury, Mt.
Holyoke, Russell Sage, Tufts, and Yale. (*
Both SOLA students and others who had worked for Ted while managing a U.S.
government-funded exchange program.)

HOW?

We teach you reading— writing— math.

PLS
LISTEN CAREFULLY: THE FACT THAT YOU SPEAK EXCELLENT ENGLISH masks two
significant weaknesses: reading speed without high comprehension and
essay writing. We
work in small groups. We emphasize readingserious books; becoming conversant on current events (major newspaper articles, not just American); and writing
well — very, very well.

We help prepare you for the
interview.

As important as your TOEFL score?
Yes. What is the interviewer looking for? CONFIDENCE. If you need a classroom teacher to tell you what to do, when to do it, how to
do it, then SOLA is not for you.

We help those who help themselves…

If you want a SOLA scholarship, you do
90% of the work and we’ll do the rest. 15 figured out how to make this work last year.
This year the total may near 25. It’s up to you.…SOLA is not about numbers; SOLA
is about the quality of the student, the quality of their education, and
the latent qualities they demonstrate as prospective leaders.

“The
solutions to Afghanistan’s often seemingly insoluble problems will come from
educated Afghans, especially its women , and will not be, cannot ever be,
imposed from the outside.”

This is SOLA.

Thank you for helping us
celebrate.

—Ted Achilles

May 1,
2009

To
the YES Class of 2008-2009

Please accept our
heartiest congratulations for completing the last 10 months of what
you will always remember as one of the single most important years of
your lives.

The YES program has
been praised by the Honorable Ronald Neumann, former US Ambassador to
Afghanistan, as the program (paraphrased) “with the greatest
long term impact on Afghanistan of any program sponsored by our
Embassy”.

What
next after YES?

SOLA
– School of Leadership, Afghanistan

was conceived and
brought to life to answer that question. In June you are very welcome
to enroll in SOLA’s A classes. Each class has only 2 students.
The focus? Help you
build your TOEFL
score to the 580 to 620 range. This is where you need
to be towin FULL
FOUR-YEAR SCHOLARSHIPS
at the best of colleges
and universities around the world. There is no charge for
these classes. Essay writing classes? Yes (taught online from VT.) We
opened a (free) girl’s dormitory (photos follow) in March for
those who live too far away to join us otherwise. Our first four
residents are from Farah, Herat (2) and Kabul (walks with crutches).
Kandahar tomorrow. 11 bunks remain for your Class.

Our
class schedules are geared to

Y
O U R J O B S.

We absolutely
understand the need for you to be able to contribute meaningfully to
the support of your families. You now need to put your hard earned
English fluency to good use in well paying jobs. You will find
yourselves alongside earlier YES alumni / ae at our Embassy and
USAID, at many INGOs, hospitals and the like. These are real jobs
that have pay ranges that start from $350 to $500 a month and can
lead / have led / to positions earning $1,500 or more.

SOLA is new. Our
impact to-date has been minimal. Our momentum is
picking up. We
cannot now, and will not ever, make any guarantees.How you do, how hard you push yourself, how many hours you
put in is entirely up to you. Examples: M joined us from an outlying
province – and quickly earned a four year scholarship. R read
something like 30 books in a year and got a fantastic four year
scholarship. N is finishing her first of four years at Nagoya
University in Japan! M took an online essay writing class offered by
a writing professor we have come to know well and, yes, also won a 4
year scholarship. M just finished the Complete Works of Ernest
Hemmingway. They all made their own breaks

“SOLA
helps those who help themselves. ”

Yours
is THE leadership generation. Take the next step: enter the ranks of
the top +/-0.001% of all educated Afghans, prepare to lead your
country, to prosper financially, to make a lifetime difference for
your entire family, and for your country. WE look forward to seeing
you soon: HA-MY-MY-RM-TA + 3 volunteer interns, a teacher and our 1st
Ph.D.